Centrifugal drier.



J. V. KRANEBIEL.

CENTBIFUGAL DBIER.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 1e, 1913.

1 ,080,700. Patented Dec. 9, 1913.-

JOHN v. KRANEBIEL, or WILLIAMSVILLE, NEW Yomi.

CENTRIFUGAL DRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

Application led January 16, 1913. Serial No. 742,371.

To all fwhom 'it may concern.'

lle it known that I, JOHN V. KRANEBIEL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Williamsville, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Driers, of which the following is a specication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in centrifugal driers and its object is to provide anarrangement whereby articles to be dried are separated by means for conducting away the water extracted therefrom, thus greatly facilitating the drying operation and preventing the intermingling of the articles.

A further object is to provide a simple and convenient construction having certain other new and useful features.

To these ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is an end ,elevation of a device .embodying the invention showing the belt partially rolled up and means for supporting and guiding the same during the operation of winding and p the articles to be dried; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the roll with the belt wound thereon and in position for rotation, also showing means for rotating the roll and forcing air therethrough during the operation; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the drying roll with its jacket clamped thereon; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the belt; Fig. 5 is a similar detail of a modified construction; and Fig. 6 is a detail of the interlocking ends of the belt section shown in Fig. 5.

In the operation of centrifugal driers as commonly constructed, the clothing is placed therein in a bundle and the water from the articles at the center of the bundle must pass through the mass of fabric before it can escape, thus requiring a continued high rotary motion. The articles are also mixed together and must be sorted when taken from the machine.

Applicant provides a flexible strip or belt 10 adapted to be wound upon a suit-able drum or core 11 with the articles to be dried placed between the turns of the belt as it is wound upon the core. This belt or strip is preferably of a width substantially equal to the placing thereon ofr the length of the core and may be formed of sheet metal which is corrugated transversely forming a series of grooves 12 extending across the strip. These grooves form passages for the escape of the water from the articles and assist in the ready escape of the water as otherwise the clothes would lie flat against the flat surface of the belt and retard the flow-of the Water across the same. The belt or strip may also be made up of a plurality of sections and the ends of thev sections formed with hooks 13 as shown in Fig. 4 adapted to interlock and connect the sections together. In thisconstruction any desired number of sections may be used according to the amount of clothing to be dried thus obviating the necessity for Winding and unwinding a belt of the full length when only a few articles are to be laced in the drier. In Figs. 5 and 6 a mo ification of the belt is shown in which one end of each section is formed with holes 14 to receive suitable tongues on the end of the next section, said tongues being formed with notches 16 in their end edges to receive suittable projections or shoulders 17 in the ends of the holes 14.

The core 11 upon which the belt is wound comprises a wooden roll secured upon a shaft 18 which shaft projects beyond the ends of the roll to engage bearings in suitable brackets 19 on a truck 20 for supporting the core in a horizontal position. Any desired number of cores and trucks may be provided but it is preferable to use at least two cores and two supporting trucks so that the belt may be wound from one core to the other as shown in Fig. 1. Inl winding the belt from one core to the other, it is preferably passed over an idler or drum 21 thus giving a straight run to the belt as it passes to the core upon which it is bein wound, and upon this straight portion o the belt the articles are Yspread out in a wet condition and the core turned by any suitable means to wind the belt thereon with the articles between its turns. If the drier from which the belt is unwound contains articles which have been dried they may be removed from the belt as it is unwound and Wound upon the other core.

In Fig. 2, mechanism is illustrated for rapidly turning the drier to cause the water to be extracted by centrifugal action and before the drying roll which consists of a core with the belt wound thereon with clothroll. This arrangement ing in between its turns, is placed in position for rotation, it is inclosed within a suitable casing 22. This casing is made in two parts or halves which are connected at their adjacent edges by any suitable clam ing means indicated at 23 so that the two halves may be drawn toward each other to firmly clamp the belt in place upon the core with the clothing between its turns. After the belt has been clamped in place by the casing, the drier or extractor is preferably lifted from its bearings on the truck 20 and one end of its shaft 18 engaged in a suitable socket 24 wit-h the drier in a vertical position. A vertical driving shaft 25 mounted in a suitable overhead bearing frame 26 and provided with a socket 27 at its lower end to engage the upper end'of the shaft 18, is then moved longitudinally by means of a suitable lever 28 to bring its socket into engagement with the squared end of the shaft 18 to hold the drier in its upended position and to rotate the same, the driving shaft being provided with a driving pulley 29 for turning the same at a high speed.

If found desirable the bearing 24 may be formed within a suitable pan or receptacle Ihaving an upstanding circumferential flange 30 vwhich will project upward beyond the lower end of the casing 22 of the drier when the same is in position for rotation. This pan is provided to receive the water which drops from the lower end of the drier and said pan may be provided wit-h a pipe 31 or othermeans for conducting water away.

If found desirable the driving shaft 25 may be provided with a suitable fan wheel 32 and this wheel may be inclosed within a suitable casing.33 having an open lower end to lit within the uper end of the casing 22 of the drier. The fan casing is preferably held against rotation but may be moved vertically to engage and disengage it from the upper end of the drying roll. The fan casing is also provided with an air inlet 34 which may be open to the atmosphere as shown, or may lead to any supply of heated air. By providingthe fan wheel and casing, a strong current of air is forced endwise through the drying roll, passing through the grooves formed by the corrugations of the belt and thus driving the water from the grooves and assisting in drying the clothes. In this construction the articles to be dried are held between the turns of the belt in layers so that the water in passing from the articles will travel only a short distance through the fabric and will then enter the transverse grooves of the belt and flow out of the lower end of the drying great-ly facilitates the drying operation and a less rapid rotation is required than in constructions where the water contained in the clothing must pass through many layers of fabric .I

before reaching the surroundin wall. The short distance which the water as to travel before reaching the vertical wall formed by the turns of the belt, also cuts down the length of time of rotation required to extract the water and all of the water will be taken from the clot-hing without any possibility of injury to the garments. The garments or articles are also firmly held between the turns of the belt and do not change their position during the operation. They are, therefore, taken out of the drier in the same order in which they are put in and each may be kept entirely separate from the others, thus preventing a mixing up of the clothing and the necessit for sorting the articles when they are talien from the drier 'is obviated. Each batch of clothing or individual washing may therefore be kept separate from all`others.

Obviously, changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I do not wish to limit myself to the particular form or arrangement shown.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is l. A centrifugal drier including a core, a flexible strip adapted to be wound upon the core with articles to be dried between the turns of the strip, and means for rotating said core with the strip thereon to centrifugally dry the articles.

2. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a shaft, an im erforate flexible strip adapted to be wound around the shaft with articles to be dried interposed between turns of the strip, and means for applying power to the shaft to rotate the same with the strip wound thereon.

3. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a strip adapted to be wound upon itself, with articles to bedried interposed between the turns of the strip, wound strip against'unwinding, and means for rotating the core.

4. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a core, a fiexlble strip adapted to be wound upon the core with articles to be dried interposed between the turns of the strip, an imperforate casing having open ends and inclosing the strip when wound upon the core, means for securing the casing means for holding the in place, and actuating means rotating the core with its strip and casing.

5. In a. centrifugal drier, the combination of a core, a iexible imperforate strip adapted to be wound upon the core with articles to be dried interposed between the turns of the strip, said strip having transverse grooves extending across the same, and means for rotating the core with the strip wound thereon.

6. In a centrifugal drier, the combination 0f a core, a exible corrugated belt adapted to be wound upon the core with clothing between the turns of the belt, said corrugations extending transversely of the belt to provide grooves which open through the ends of the roll when the belt is wound upon the core, means for securing the belt upon the core, and means for rot-ating the core.

7. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a shaft, a strip formed of imperforate sections detachably united, said belt being adapted to be wound about the shaft, means for holding the belt wound upon the shaft, and means for rotating the shaft.

8. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a cylindrical core having an axial shaft, a flexible belt formed of sheet metal sections having interlocking ends and adapted to be Wound upon the core with articles of clothing interposed between the turns of the belt, a casing divided longitudinally into sections to embrace the belt when wound upon the core, means for drawing the sections of the casing toward each other to clamp the belt between them, and means for applying power to the shaft to rotate the core, belt and casing.

9. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a shaft, a flexible strip adapted to be wound about the shaft with articles of clothing interposed between its turns, a casing inclosing the strip and having open ends,

means for rotating the shaft with the strip wound thereon, and means for directing a current of air into one end of said casing.

10. In a centrifugal drier, the combination of a drying roll comprising a shaft and a flexible strip wound about the shaft and provided with transverse grooves opening through the ends of the roll, means for rotating the drying roll, a blower fan and a casing for directlng the current of air from the fan through the grooves of the strip.

1l. Inacentrifugal drier, the combination of a core having an axial shaft, a ilexible belt formed of corrugated sheet metal with the grooves formed by the corrugations extending across the belt and said belt being adapted to be wound upon the core with articles of clothing interposed between its turns, a casing inclosing the belt and open at its ends, means for rotating the shaft with its core, beltand casing extending in a vertical position, a fan casing opening into the upper end of the casing inclosing the belt, and a fan in said casing to force air therethrough and downward through the lgrlooves formed by the corrugations in the In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN V. KRANEBIEL. Witnesses:

HOWARD G. BRrrrING, WARREN D. Rms'r. 

